tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-126697542012-01-30T21:09:45.615-05:00A Blog. Lutheran. Catholic. Sacramental. Addressing the contemporary life of the church from an authentic, ancient Christian point of view. And the occasional thought on rock and roll.Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.comBlogger21291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-15630743431372536062012-01-30T18:47:00.002-05:002012-01-30T18:51:18.215-05:00

For if  the world could have been saved by bookkeeping, it would have been saved by Moses, not Jesus. The law was just fine. And God gave it a good thousand years or so to see if anyone could pass a test like that. But when nobody did ~- when it became perfectly clear that there was no one who was righteous, not even one" (Rom. 3:10; Ps. 14:1-3), that "both Jews and Gentiles alike were all under

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-54274214943455489942012-01-28T16:41:00.003-05:002012-01-28T16:41:55.584-05:00

Murrays Mill Road, Catawba, NC.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-84364380817317873842012-01-27T08:53:00.001-05:002012-01-27T08:53:47.579-05:00

Faith is also a very mighty, active, busy thing which at once renews a man, gives him a second birth, and introduces him to a new manner and way of life, so that it is impossible for him not to do good without ceasing. For as naturally as a tree bears fruit, good works follow faith. Luther, WA 10.3.285 cited in David Scaer, Law and Gospel and the Means of Grace. 81.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-78098975354362096552012-01-25T17:45:00.001-05:002012-01-25T17:45:17.316-05:00

From the Christian Century Sue Fritz tended to the sick for more than two decades as a nurse at St. Peter's University Hospital. By the time she left for another job in 1999, she was vested in the hospital's federally insured pension program -- confident her earned pension of $20,000 or more a year would be there for her when she eventually retired. That confidence was shattered last November

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-16220056517313522252012-01-23T19:48:00.000-05:002012-01-23T19:48:51.418-05:00

I love this blog. 3eanuts Charles Schulz's Peanuts comics often conceal the existential despair of their world with a closing joke at the characters' expense. With the last panel omitted, despair pervades all.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-85806827328691993612012-01-23T07:31:00.002-05:002012-01-23T07:31:23.191-05:00

"I met old Satan walking down the lane and I hit him in the head with a walking cane."  Song is Chased Old Satan. Band is Ephraim Woodie and the Henpecked Husbands. It consited of three Woodie Brothers, Clay Reed, and Edison Nuckolls. It was recorded sometime between 1927 and 1931 in or near Ashe County, North Carolina. This is taken from a collection called Music from the Lost Provinces,

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-20879479609895846422012-01-21T11:01:00.001-05:002012-01-21T11:06:44.806-05:00

Rogue Ringtone Halts a Maestro ....The final movement of Mahler's Ninth Symphony is a slow rumination on mortality, with quiet sections played by strings alone. During the New York Philharmonic's performance Tuesday night, it was interrupted by an iPhone. The jarring ringtone—the device's "Marimba" sound, which simulates the mallet instrument—intruded in the middle of the movement,

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-22734209024419179092012-01-21T07:36:00.001-05:002012-01-21T07:36:46.507-05:00

Big-time sports have become a modern tribal religion for college students. There are sacred symbols (team logos), a high priest (Coach K) and shared rituals (chants and face painting).  From : How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-34770001708385457782012-01-18T16:07:00.000-05:002012-01-18T16:07:01.652-05:00

I do not always pray, nor do I always meditate on the law of the Lord and struggle continually with sin, death and the devil; but I put on my clothes, I sleep, I play with the children, eat, drink, etc. If all these things are done in faith, they are approved by God's judgment as having been done rightly. Martin Luther, Commentary on Genesis, AE, Volume 6, 180.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-19120958696092008102012-01-13T19:20:00.002-05:002012-01-13T19:20:51.579-05:00

Highway 70 between Catawba and Claremont. January 5, 2012

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-43711559647041228632012-01-13T18:11:00.000-05:002012-01-13T18:11:05.976-05:00

Pastor and wife preach married sex with 24-hour 'bed-in' This is for real, not a satire.  And then one wonders why the church is not taken seriously? To encourage members of his congregation and others to take part in what he calls a “sexperiment,” Dallas pastor Ed Young and his wife Lisa began staging a "bed-in" on Friday morning, laying in a bed on the roof of their Texas church for 24

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-76838644418711163462012-01-12T10:09:00.005-05:002012-01-12T10:13:30.195-05:00

Why the Tabor case is important by the guy who argued the case ... Douglas Laycock, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Virginia, who represented Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in the case the Supreme Court decided Wednesday. Here is his conclusion: Both the rules for selecting ministers, and the evaluation of ministers in individual cases, are decisions

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-76051036934397955352012-01-10T18:36:00.001-05:002012-01-10T18:36:51.371-05:00

"I remember, you know, you go to these parties on Saturday night and people would say, about 8:00 on Sunday morning "Whoa, I have to go - I gotta get to church!" People would say, "Why do you want to go to church, all those hypocrites." And I say, "Look, why do I want to stay here with all you hypocrites?" I never knew why going to church made you a hypocrite. They'd say because you go to church

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-64791548154048116372012-01-09T17:00:00.001-05:002012-01-09T17:00:25.602-05:00

Marines attacking Rome, Churchill was not a beer man, a Con man turned pastor turned Con man What happens to old food: “We put enough preservatives in our food to embalm an elephant"

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-74245113795630201402012-01-07T12:19:00.001-05:002012-01-07T12:19:30.112-05:00

A review of "Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers", a bio of the Louvin Brothers, a great country gospel duet. They led a wild life but put out some of the greatest country and gospel tunes ever. Harmonies from out of this world.  Here is taste of their wonderful sound:

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-69462915561387165362012-01-05T10:51:00.000-05:002012-01-05T10:51:55.922-05:00

The joys of English Pronunciation If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud. Dearest creature in creation,Study English pronunciation.I will teach you in my verseSounds like corpse,

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-26116818900235574782012-01-04T20:24:00.001-05:002012-01-04T20:24:34.459-05:00

The Greatest Paper Map of the United States You’ll Ever See 39.99, laminated, or 12.95 folded.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-80652116039715031652012-01-03T11:22:00.000-05:002012-01-03T11:22:04.451-05:00

As the season of Epiphany approaches, I thought I would share this article from January 2011 Forum Letter. Epiphany: mission statement of the ChurchBy Paul Gregory AlmsNo word is used more often in church circles these days than mission. It has picked up a plural over the centuries (missions) and morphed recently into an adjective (missional). Almost every congregation is expected to have a

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-11396751836951506452012-01-02T06:45:00.004-05:002012-01-02T06:45:54.817-05:00

After so many media pieces over the last decades trumpeting the slow death of Christianity in England and Europe here is a bit of optimism from the Daily telegraph. The return to religion With the chill wind of austerity blowing through the country, religion’s warm embrace looks more and more inviting. Peter Oborne welcomes the resurgence of a national pastime: churchgoing Sunday morning on

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-50074012007947306632011-12-30T08:13:00.000-05:002011-12-30T08:13:02.056-05:00

Town of Catawba, 2nd St SE between Central Ave. and Hudson Chapel Road.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-5330706804941244852011-12-27T14:40:00.001-05:002011-12-27T14:40:56.095-05:00

North Carolina Route 16 between Oxford School Road and Catawba River. December 27, 2011.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-73358750584892718302011-12-26T22:26:00.001-05:002011-12-26T22:26:22.564-05:00

I hate to sound snarky and I am glad he reads the Bible but shouldn't the Incarnation pretty much be on the menu every Christmas? Bill Hybels: Jesus Deserves One More Gasp This Christmas Skipping out on the “light and superficial” messages that sometimes characterize the sermons preached on Christmas, megapastor Bill Hybels decided to dig deeper this year and go with something more substantial,

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-36799030553828725262011-12-20T13:10:00.002-05:002011-12-20T13:10:40.078-05:00

Survey: poor economy hurting churches More than 92 percent of the congregations responding to a recent survey said they had been impacted by members’ job loss and loss of income. Only slightly more than a third said their church’s finances were healthy. The Villanova School of Business and the Cooperative Congregations Studies Partnership looked at more than 2,500 oldline Protestant,

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-86054521299330138352011-12-19T19:02:00.001-05:002011-12-19T19:02:18.338-05:00

Reindeer Meat Sells Out in UK Because of Protests Animal rights group Vegetarians International Voice for Animals started a campaign against U.K. store Harvey Nichols reindeer meat, and the publicity led to a spike in sales. for selling VIVA feels there are a host of problems that make the Swedish delicacy unfit to mass produce.According to the animal rights group, when reindeer are herded to be

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-39400026235565526592011-12-19T09:41:00.000-05:002011-12-19T11:16:18.099-05:00

My article is up at the LCMS front page. It is little piece on Advent and Christmas entitled: Advent: Wanting, Waiting and Welcoming.  You can read it here. Here are some bits and pieces: Advent is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Church Year seasons. It gets no respect. In the mad rush to Christmas, the season of Advent can get pushed aside like hapless shoppers in the way of a bargain at

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-75220954856854375292011-12-19T07:35:00.001-05:002011-12-19T07:35:45.434-05:00

Through this union of the immortal Son of God with our human nature, all men were clothed with incorruption in the promise of the resurrection. For the solidarity of mankind is such that, by virtue of the Word's indwelling in a single human body, the corruption which goes with death has lost its power over all. You know how it is when some great king enters a large city and dwells in one of its

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-12582039497331859822011-12-18T06:52:00.003-05:002011-12-18T06:52:23.770-05:00

According to Professor Robert Greenberg of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one - Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai,Sapientia - the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-9640444713538619582011-12-18T06:45:00.000-05:002011-12-18T06:45:12.708-05:00

And thus taking from our bodies one of like nature, because all were under penalty of the corruption of death He gave it over to death in the stead of all, and offered it to the Father— doing this, moreover, of His loving-kindness, to the end that,  firstly, all being held to have died in Him, the law involving the ruin of men might be undone (inasmuch as its power was fully spent in the

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-50103893427534454852011-12-16T12:50:00.004-05:002011-12-16T12:50:55.438-05:00

Homiletically, how do we approach it? Is it an achievement, a purity, a state she has attained to and guarded and so God responds by giving her Christ? Or is it more an absence, a nothing, a lack of human work, the ex nihilo from which God works the Incarnation and salvation? Homiletically, I tend to the latter. Her virginity matches the nothingness, the no effort, no righteousness with which

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-65276716325740990752011-12-13T11:06:00.001-05:002011-12-13T11:15:59.786-05:00

Here is a very interesting article by Peter Berger surveying and seeking to explain the rise in Southern Baptist interest in Calvinism. Nice mentions of TULIP, Kuyper and Arminius. A good paragraph: How then is one to understand the New Calvinism in this improbable setting? I will venture a sociological interpretation. In 1994 the historian Mark Noll (now on the faculty of Notre Dame)

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-25065249018177823022011-12-13T08:24:00.001-05:002011-12-13T08:24:20.983-05:00

This has become one of my favorite Christmas hymns that we sing in our congregation. It was new to me when it came out in the Hymnal Supplement '98 and I have grown to love it. It is so nice to sing this on a bright joyful Christmas morning! Sacred Infant, all divine, what a tender love was thine, Thus to come from highest bliss down to such a world as this.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-35740695183410663022011-12-10T18:04:00.001-05:002011-12-10T18:05:19.337-05:00

Rev. Todd Wilken of Issues Etc. picked two of my blog posts blog of the week. Excellent!

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-14144633221330090262011-12-10T17:56:00.001-05:002011-12-10T17:59:33.043-05:00

From the Christian Century website.  It is obviously geared toward a mainline liberal denomination (PCUSA) but much of what faces Lutherans in the LCMS is similar.   Perspectives on the young clergy crisis Since I’ve been chairing a national Presbyterian Church (USA) committee on the Nature of the Church for the 21st century, I’ve been gaining a different perspective on many of the larger

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-76232893370100176622011-12-09T15:59:00.001-05:002011-12-09T16:31:28.881-05:00

... anything a baby boomer did twice. HT: XKCD and Outer Rim

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-78520212258672706212011-12-07T10:04:00.001-05:002011-12-07T10:07:01.117-05:00

This essay of mine was published in Touchstone in October of 2005.  Wearing the Cross: Pastoral Leadership Fads I have been a pastor for only thirteen years, but I have already seen several models of pastoral ministry—each the latest thing and the final word—come and go. Scores of workshops, programs, and even whole industries have promised to make me a better shepherd. Many offer new

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-2354705871959293222011-12-06T14:37:00.001-05:002011-12-06T14:38:20.758-05:00

Nice one for Advent:  We all long for Eden, and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature...is still soaked with the sense of exile.  J.R.R. Tolkien ( at least attributed to him on the internet ... reader beware)

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-61447224840229099422011-12-05T11:31:00.001-05:002011-12-05T11:32:38.613-05:00

Baby boomers heading back to seminary Washington (CNN)– At 51, Vincent Guest could well be the professor at a table filled with 20- and 30-year-olds. He is leading a lunchtime social justice meeting for seminarians at Theological College at Catholic University in Washington. Forks clink on plates in the basement conference room as Guest opens the November meeting in prayer. "In the name of

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-39936729114007484272011-12-01T12:17:00.001-05:002011-12-01T12:21:03.209-05:00

 Just found this found this in my my books in my library. "Folk Hymnal for the Now Generation" . Contemporary worship that's not so contemporary. Copyright date? 1970. Love it. The Now Generation has somehow become the "then" generation. So it goes. 

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-38386488295171564192011-11-30T16:49:00.001-05:002011-11-30T16:53:10.696-05:00

One of the beautiful lessons of Advent is that it places the fearful judgment and second coming of Christ in the context of Christmas. The Incarnation is the necessary prerequisite to the judgment. The one who sits on the throne is the one who sits on Mary's lap. The Second Coming must always be shaped by the first. There is only one Jesus. The one who will judge you is the one who was born for

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-77030052957041823452011-11-30T08:23:00.001-05:002011-11-30T08:27:03.600-05:00

Here, Rod Dreher reflects on the importance of ritual in our relationship to the church and to God. Along the way he touches on Vatican II, the Orthodox church, praise bands, pushy pastors, the low church Methodists and more. Some food or thought. Here is one take away : No doubt that ritual completely disconnected from theology is empty. But humans never outgrow the deep need for ritual.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-30041004726914552022011-11-28T18:26:00.001-05:002011-11-28T18:27:02.642-05:00

If democracy is the gospel of civil religion, then elections are its sacrament.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-69263109980085697522011-11-28T15:50:00.001-05:002011-11-28T16:16:15.100-05:00

There are some very worthwhile thoughts in this post, How to Shrink Your Church.  Here is a killer sentence: I once heard church consultant and leadership guru Don Cousins say that you can grow a church without God if you have good preaching, great music, killer children's ministry, and an engaging youth minister. Thanks to Pastor Andrew Smith for the heads up. 

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-10866506222970157142011-11-25T14:13:00.001-05:002011-11-25T14:17:49.118-05:00

In the 19th century religion prospered in America while theology slowly went bankrupt.  Henry Steele Commager

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-69621001577321263172011-11-22T06:42:00.001-05:002011-11-22T06:44:52.325-05:00

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-51788714718006200072011-11-21T12:20:00.001-05:002011-11-21T12:26:09.439-05:00

Any song that uses "mash-potato" as a verb is o.k. by me. Two versions below. One is the original and the second a punk rock cover that may be better than the Contours version.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-24396794111657646122011-11-21T06:50:00.001-05:002011-11-21T06:52:34.816-05:00

Huff Post Q&A With Tim Goeglein  Tim Goeglein was the go-to person in George W. Bush's White House for evangelical Christians until news broke in 2008 that he had plagiarized in columns in his hometown newspaper in Indiana. Goeglein, 47, and a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, has just written "The Man in the Middle: An Inside Account of Faith and Politics in the George W.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-23838690487726784142011-11-18T07:06:00.001-05:002011-11-18T07:11:02.406-05:00

We preach not one advent only of Christ, but a second also, far more glorious than the former. For the former gave a view of His patience; but the latter brings with it the crown of a divine kingdom. For all things, for the most part, are twofold in our Lord Jesus Christ:  a twofold generation; one, of God, before the ages; and one, of a Virgin, at the close of the ages:  His descents twofold;

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-74148115432284912182011-11-17T07:05:00.000-05:002011-11-17T07:05:54.847-05:00

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-82853698350971583842011-11-15T11:05:00.001-05:002011-11-15T11:07:40.894-05:00

"The burning bush is the Cross. The highest claim of revelation, the 'I am he,' and the Cross of Jesus are inseparably one." "'When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am" John 8: 28 From here. 

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-20949565960479152482011-11-14T15:36:00.001-05:002011-11-14T15:45:58.245-05:00

I don't know if it is the official song of the Occupy movement but it is a nice little number by a legendary rocker and songwriter, Charlie Burton. Charlie has written so many good songs over the years (here is his website ... though it is a bit out of date and here is what Trouser Press has to say of him ). There a couple of Facebook places where you can find out all about him : here and here.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-52168627487182126672011-11-13T06:27:00.001-05:002011-11-13T06:27:55.174-05:00

In the church, every evening song is about death. When the church sings of the morning, she sings the Resurrection.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-45847048704072975422011-11-10T16:05:00.001-05:002011-11-10T16:26:20.577-05:00

The season of Advent approaches. It is still a couple of weeks away but is coming soon.  I think Advent ought to be distinguished from Lent. It has a different character and purpose. It is not simply a season of repentance, like some sort of "Lent before Christmas". It is more a repentance that shows itself in longing and desire for the Christ who will soon come.  You can hear this

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-85815775955736990482011-11-09T18:13:00.000-05:002011-11-09T18:13:03.471-05:00

Some very cool, beautiful maps here .... Colors represent the languages used in Twitter. Here is the monolingual US. See more here. 

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-80807188863623902482011-11-09T12:04:00.001-05:002011-11-09T12:05:54.158-05:00

You can't make this stuff up .... 71 tattooed Texas Pentecostal preachers roar up to Israel’s Wailing Wall — on Harleys!

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-87603227821997418232011-11-08T14:33:00.000-05:002011-11-08T14:33:01.408-05:00

Nice article:  Megachurches: When Will The Bubble Burst?  Some bits and pieces:  For the most part the stats look very positive for mega and gigachurches (yes, that is a term now being used). These massive congregations, unlike many other churches, are still growing. They're expanding staff, seeing increasing budgets and have an optimistic outlook. But buried in the positive stats about

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-66122239050125712542011-11-05T18:24:00.001-04:002011-11-05T18:24:07.617-04:00

It track the use over time. Clearly shows the developing technological and therefore economic power of the East. http://www.worldmapper.org/animations/internet_users_animation.html

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-16377766822627497382011-11-02T21:17:00.001-04:002011-11-02T21:17:24.233-04:00

Really deep thought for the evening: The sound of a helicopter is really annoying until you're drowning, and it's there to rescue you. Then it sounds like music. -- Tom Waits In my mind that somehow relates to the Gospel and the alien nature of the preaching of Christ on the cross. Its really annoying and disgusting and bloody and weird and primitive and so on. But then you realize you're

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-33134543117732178502011-10-29T12:36:00.004-04:002011-10-29T12:36:53.900-04:00

Oh, wait  .... 

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-57700644928609170932011-10-25T15:51:00.000-04:002011-10-25T15:51:44.925-04:00

Tim Tebow, Protestant Saint from Religion Dispatches Yesterday, my mother called me in a panic. “Who won the game?!” I am looking online right now and I see that it is tied at fifteen, but I don’t know if that is a live feed. “Is it over?” Her voice was quivering with anxiety and guilt: “I was having lunch with your uncle—I forgot the game was on!” My mother waited with bated breath to hear

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-66169166136279771562011-10-25T11:56:00.002-04:002011-10-25T12:00:17.346-04:00

... but since I am a bit faint hearted, it is 30 year old politics. Ronald Reagan signed into law 11 major tax increases, including the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, the largest peacetime tax increase in American history. HT: Bruce Bartlett 

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-24462289423965713212011-10-24T07:08:00.000-04:002011-10-24T07:08:41.614-04:00

The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers and the shop they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns—how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money…The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are,

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-19913799213067709002011-10-22T17:04:00.001-04:002011-10-22T17:04:54.467-04:00

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-83619380025566890652011-10-22T08:34:00.003-04:002011-10-22T08:34:49.001-04:00

The last line kind of says it all : Gaug's service started with Sinatra's "My Way." From the Charlotte Observer .... Life Celebrants make funerals more personal Kevin O'Brien stood in front of a room of family members and friends of Leland Gaug this summer at the Billow Funeral Home and told the life story of the World War II and Korean War veteran.While O'Brien had never met the 87-

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-66458178071878052462011-10-13T16:27:00.001-04:002011-10-13T16:27:03.970-04:00

New study spots warning signals in American churches More mixed news about American churches: Over the last decade, they’ve gotten grayer, smaller, and poorer. On the other hand, they’re more tech-savvy, innovative in worship and run more people-oriented ministries. This good news-bad news comes courtesy of a 10-year study by Hartford Seminary. Called "A Decade of Change in American

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-3265185836953500452011-10-13T07:56:00.000-04:002011-10-13T07:56:33.295-04:00

Man Threw Hot Dog at Tiger Woods to 'Do Something Epic' Some people are inspired by Tiger Woods. Others are inspired to throw frankfurters at him. In the case of Brandon Kelly, the 31-year-old who launched a hot dog in Tiger Woods' direction on Sunday, inspiration also came compliments of Hollywood. "I threw the hot dog toward Tiger Woods because I was inspired by the movie Drive," Kelly

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-27728086741140553952011-10-12T18:17:00.000-04:002011-10-12T18:17:49.927-04:00

The Psalms are such a treasure for they are God's word yet are our prayer. They prophesy Christ but express our life. Christ prays them and when we pray them in and through Him we are joined with Him in addressing our Father in heaven. In praying the Psalms, the church which is one with Christ at the altar is one with Him in prayer.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-51333444362072723802011-10-12T10:30:00.001-04:002011-10-12T10:30:42.661-04:00

Some congregations/pastors are tiger moms, constantly pestering and badgering their people to do, achieve, grow. There is no time for rest, for being a family that is simply loved and accepted. Now every parent must challenge and push and discipline their kids. But as pastors surely we are to model that heavenly Father who says to us in Christ : all is finished. All has been done. Come and rest

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-25202712947096831862011-10-11T20:32:00.001-04:002011-10-11T20:32:42.797-04:00

Here is a post that sure to matter to no one but me: There are two moves that must be made to get the Beatles right. The first is John over Paul. The second is the red album over the blue, that is, 1962-1966 over Sargeant Pepper's and after. I began, in my early teen years, wrong on both counts. Paul's songs appealed more than John's. And I thought the psychedelic and mature Beatles stuff more

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-68353717249393625402011-10-11T06:35:00.001-04:002011-10-11T06:35:42.893-04:00

"Of course the family is a good institution because it is uncongenial...it is, as the sentimentalists say, like a little kingdom and, like most other little kingdoms, is generally in a state of something resembling anarchy." --G.K. Chesterton

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-30504108302200676382011-10-10T16:39:00.000-04:002011-10-10T16:40:10.017-04:00

From a Christianity Today interview. Read it all here. Can you talk about your faith background? For instance, did you have a conversion experience? Not as some others describe it. I think the most important religious experience I had was when I was raised in a Lutheran church where confirmation was very important. Church was obviously very important. We all went to church every week as a

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-36556566734367844012011-10-10T16:20:00.000-04:002011-10-10T16:20:24.489-04:00

On Christian involvement on the Wall Street, 99/1 protests. From the Washington Post.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-86348078508605172652011-10-08T15:03:00.000-04:002011-10-08T15:03:16.190-04:00

The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams  True to his prediction, Hank Williams never got out of this world alive. But leave it to country's all-time monarch of misery, last heard on this mortal coil 58 years ago, to be responsible for the most delightfully despondent album of 2011. Executive-produced by Bob Dylan, "The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams" resurrects lyrics left behind by the

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-46618968109552024272011-10-08T12:16:00.001-04:002011-10-08T12:16:33.733-04:00

Nicely done. Steve Jobs: The Beginning, 1955-1985 Steve Jobs: The Wilderness, 1985-1997 Steve Jobs: The Return, 1997-2011

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-13553835660643968692011-09-23T13:21:00.000-04:002011-09-23T13:21:32.025-04:00

By the time I feed my family, I have maybe $400,000 left over," - Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), in an interview on MSNBC, on why as a small business owner he can't afford a tax increase. I don't begrudge him his money. I am a bit flabbergasted that he would say such a thing on a national TV network. 

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-87050558877188159172011-09-21T10:26:00.003-04:002011-09-21T10:26:59.194-04:00

“Even if religion doesn’t make sense to you, you can’t make sense of the world without knowing something about religion.”    “The United States is one of the most religious countries on earth, but Americans know almost nothing about religion.” Stephen Prothero, last night at Wake Forest University.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-46670700667771005472011-09-17T18:03:00.001-04:002011-09-17T18:04:33.820-04:00

It is wonderful. The accents and the enthusiasm collide with one's memory of the original ... great. Thanks to Chris Esget who posted this on Google Plus. 

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-79031214249166666612011-09-15T15:46:00.000-04:002011-09-15T15:46:03.741-04:00

I don't know Pastor Adam Lehman but he sounds like an interesting graduate of CTS in Fort Wayne. The article from the Mobile Alabama Press Register is here. MOBILE -- For the Rev. Adam Lehman, an Iraq war veteran who is pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Mobile, Sept. 11 holds profound meaning. It is, says Lehman, “a date my generation will always remember.” For Lehman, 29, a Marine

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-39256468138721444322011-09-14T13:43:00.001-04:002011-09-14T13:43:18.319-04:00

This is a wonderful blog post and collection of photos from the installation of Dr. Lawrence Rast as President of Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It sounds like a wonderful day. I wish I could have been there. But I am very happy for Dr. Rast and for the seminary.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-53524899726874396632011-09-08T11:22:00.000-04:002011-09-08T11:22:03.966-04:00

You heard it here first.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-83666583178948485492011-09-07T14:00:00.001-04:002011-09-07T14:01:02.913-04:00

Here is an essay of mine just published in the Concordia Theological Quarterly (vol. 75, 180-183). The CTQ publishes on its own peculiar schedule so although it is now the middle of Pentecost, this article deals with Ash Wednesday.  The article tries to connect the first chapters of the Book of Genesis and the role soil plays there with the liturgical application of ashes at the beginning of

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-22295207837414962882011-09-02T12:34:00.000-04:002011-09-02T12:34:17.586-04:00

An astute commentator pointed out that on the Jimmy Fallon show on Wednesday August 31, Jimmy's co-host, Steve Higgins, sang "Sons of God, Hear His Holy Word". This song has been a continuing topic on this blog:  here and here and here . It is a pretty funny bit on the show. They are mocking the song a little and comparing it to the gospel type, rocking number the house band is playing. The

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-51111846491564962072011-09-01T15:12:00.000-04:002011-09-01T15:12:18.988-04:00

I like the ones with an inferiority complex : Georgia Tech and Texas A&M who talk about how much they hate Georgia and Texas. Here is the post. 

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-66607572132804107792011-08-31T20:10:00.000-04:002011-08-31T20:11:36.863-04:00

NY Times editor equates Christian faith with belief in space aliens

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-45372455818066077152011-08-30T15:42:00.002-04:002011-08-30T15:50:50.712-04:00

The IRS tax court says so here. Tax Break for Clergy Questioned As Congress scrutinizes every nook and cranny of the budget for possible revenue, a surprising court decision is allowing clergy members to buy or live in multiple homes tax-free. The U.S. Tax Court ruled that Phil Driscoll, an ordained minister and Grammy Award-winning trumpeter who went to prison for tax evasion, didn't owe

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-43906576693283133002011-08-30T10:28:00.007-04:002011-08-30T10:41:17.899-04:00

Wait, my blog has been been hijacked by some weird Chinese bot! No, I am referring to a thriving little business in small town North Carolina, making handmade bags and purses one at a time. Each one is unique, never repeated. They are beautiful, made from vintage recycled, upholstery fabric. Ladies, get yours. Men get one for the lady in your life. Why the advertisement in my humble little

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-9940860312538737092011-08-29T13:24:00.001-04:002011-08-29T13:25:41.099-04:00

Funny. Some parallels with the pastoral ministry ....

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-50066575904444252812011-08-28T18:51:00.002-04:002011-08-28T18:53:10.236-04:00

Strangely, ... no, bizzarely entertaining.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-90401628474841860632011-08-28T18:41:00.002-04:002011-08-28T18:44:35.163-04:00

Or rather the toast is the Beatles. Portraits of the Beatles. Done all in burnt toast. Its art, folks. Click here for all four portraits. I'll just post the coolest Beatle who wrote the best songs: John.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-86058975110855667392011-08-27T08:32:00.002-04:002011-08-27T08:34:35.057-04:00

Can creedless Unitarians make it another 50 years? From RNS. A recent Sunday service at the First Unitarian Church of Baltimore ended with an apology. Laurel Mendes ex­plained that religious doctrine had been duly scrubbed from the hymns in the congregation's Sunday program. But Mendes, a neopagan lay member who led the service, feared that a reference to God in "Once to Every Soul and Nation"

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-79748743016481070742011-08-26T06:38:00.000-04:002011-08-26T06:39:13.788-04:00

Here is a review I wrote some years ago of a great little book now out of print by Friederich Kalb: Theology of Worship in 17th-Century Lutheranism, translated by Henry P. Hamann. St. Louis: Concordia, 1965. The review was published in Logia. The marriage of doctrine and worship is the fruitful union from which a healthy Lutheran church body takes its birth. The Lutherans Confessions supply

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-18134336989598551362011-08-25T20:31:00.003-04:002011-08-25T20:38:54.739-04:00

Is there anything in this article that couldn't also be said about some corporate merger? —a 14 percent increase over pre-merger days -"The new merger math is one and one equals ten," he said. "There's a synergy about it." -The merged operation offers increased credibility, a broader identity, and financial efficiency. Language means something. It is kind of scary how complete the

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-36789139189073702522011-08-25T16:44:00.003-04:002011-08-25T16:47:58.807-04:00

“They correctly understood that the key to good interpretation is discerning the whole message of Scripture well, and they correctly saw that the Bible as a whole is fundamentally about Christ.” For that reason, following their example is safer than following modern methods: “it is less dangerous to discern the Bible’s central message clearly but read that message too enthusiastically into all

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-20876309925841278582011-08-21T19:04:00.003-04:002011-08-21T19:27:11.473-04:00

... for no particular reason. Down in New Orleans, where everything's fine/All them cats is drinkin' that wine ...Gallo or Muscatel, either one would be just swell ... ... He gave her poison in a glass of wine...

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-85336777650014480852011-08-18T17:11:00.006-04:002011-08-18T17:27:29.029-04:00

From time to time I see blog posts and facebook updates about the Siberian Lutheran Church. Pastor Larry Beane recently traveled over to Siberia for the summer seminars and you can read about his adventures and see pictures on his blog here. These dispatches always reminds me of my time over there. I have gone twice : once for the Summer Seminars in 2002 and again to teach at the seminary in

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-43743775336447525302011-08-18T14:44:00.002-04:002011-08-18T14:46:35.503-04:00

Afro-American Work Songs in a Texas Prison ... Pete and Toshi Seeger, their son Daniel, and folklorist Bruce Jackson visited a Texas prison in Huntsville in March of 1966 and produced this rare document of of work songs by inmates of the Ellis Unit. Watch it here.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-41685400565015762382011-08-16T21:46:00.003-04:002011-08-16T21:48:10.252-04:00

... that turned on young people as pop music never had before." My friend Rastaman Vibrations posted a great news cast from the day Elvis died. Here it is

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-66012786649342128902011-08-16T16:36:00.001-04:002011-08-16T16:37:39.857-04:00

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-65205108593330464362011-08-15T15:13:00.004-04:002011-08-15T15:18:39.932-04:00

This is a great essay on growing up in the CCM youth culture of the 90's.The author traces the shift in Christian music from being explicitly Christian to being more and more marketing driven and thus less and less outwardly marked by any discernible Christian message. A great read. Her are some of her conclusions: This trend spreads beyond CCM into many areas of evangelical culture. The

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-2646071139855506502011-08-12T09:26:00.002-04:002011-08-12T09:35:09.043-04:00

Internet Monk has a very interesting post about two churches that "closed down the show"... pulled the plug on entertainment, market driven, evangelical mega-church approach. (One church is the ELCA Community Church of Joy.) In its place they are pushing discipleship and spiritual formation. I have never been able to get a grip on what discipleship is. IM calls it "aggressive pietism" and wonders

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12669754.post-66789422187193103582011-08-10T11:19:00.001-04:002011-08-10T11:20:25.945-04:00

... is to preach the Gospel. Apology to the Augsburg Confession, XV, 42.

Paul Gregory Almshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13059699609960027534noreply@blogger.com0